


The First Time and the Second Date

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Feels Like Heaven [26]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 01:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6634774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“No one wants to bounce around with a toddler on their hip while wearing 2” heels.  He's kinda heavy.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Time and the Second Date

**Author's Note:**

> from thesoundasitfell’s prompt of the first time Ed met Noah.

“Hello.”

“Olivia, it’s me.”

“Come on up.”

Ed heard the baby crying in the background and wondered what that was about. It had been some time since he’d had a toddler on his hands. And Noah wasn’t even two years old yet so was he a toddler or still a baby? Ed contemplated different names for kids based on age as he walked into Olivia’s condo building and took the stairs. She only lived on the second of four floors so even though there was an elevator there was rarely any need to take it. He knocked on her door once and she opened it, sniffling toddler—baby?—in her arms.

“Hi.” She gave him a sympathetic look.

“Hey. I think I should be giving you that look.”

“What look?” 

“You're looking at me like you're sorry.” Ed replied. “What's going on?”

“The sitter is so late. I called the service and all the woman would tell me is that she is in route. I live in Tribeca, Ed, not Timbuktu. And Noah is so cranky. I don’t know what it is, maybe his stomach, but he's been whining and crying all evening and that is not his nature. He should be asleep by now but he doesn’t want to sleep and he doesn’t want me to put him down. I don't know what to do. Nothing is turning out like I planned.”

“It’s alright, Olivia. Did you give Noah anything?”

“A little baby Pepto for his upset stomach. The nurse on the 24 hour doctor line said it would be OK.”

“And when was the last time you called about the sitter?” Ed asked.

“I don't know, maybe ten minutes ago. I didn’t even have time to finish my makeup or put on my shoes. No one wants to bounce around with a toddler on their hip while wearing 2” heels. He's kinda heavy.”

“You look beautiful by the way.” He said.

“I look like the Joker in the original Batman with half of my face made up.” She said.

“Are you talking about Cesar Romero or Jack Nicholson?”

“I think I might be talking about Prince in the Batdance music video.”

“Ahh, something else altogether. Do you want a little break?”

“What do you mean?”

“I can take him for a few minutes. You can rest your feet or finish your makeup. You can call the service again and not be as nice as I’m sure you were the first couple of times.”

“I don't know…”

“I have three kids.” Ed said. “I've only dropped a baby once.”

“Ed!”

“I'm kidding. It was twice actually, but don’t tell anyone.”

“You are not funny.”

“May I hold him?” he asked with a gentle smile. “I promise that I have it all under control.”

“OK.”

As soon as Olivia passed him off, Noah started to cry. He'd been paying Ed no attention up until that point but he knew now that whoever’s arms he was in wasn’t mommy. He looked back at her, holding out his arms, whining and weeping. Olivia wanted to give in so bad and Ed could see it in her eyes.

“Just give me five minutes.” He said, putting one hand under Noah’s butt and the other on his back as he held the boy to his chest. He was heavy and he was a fighter too…a little bruiser. “If he's not calm in five minutes you can have him back. I promise.”

Liv nodded, biting her lip and watching the exchange as if Ed was holding a hand grenade along with her son. Ed bounced him just a little bit, giving his back healthy pats. Olivia thought it might be too hard but Noah had stopped wailing. He was still whining but seemed to be calming some.

“Hey Noah it’s nice to meet you, my name is Ed. Your mommy has a big crush on me but don’t tell her I told you that. I know you can't tell me what hurts, bud, and I'm sorry but when’s the last time you let out a good belch? Hmm? What did you eat today, little man? Was it something that mommy doesn’t know about? Did you sneak a cupcake or a fried pickle at daycare? I saw a kid eat a fried pickle once and the results were not pretty. Not pretty at all, my friend.”

Olivia smiled a bit. She took her phone from the coffee table and pointed towards the bedroom. Ed nodded and kept walking with Noah as she went in to make the phone call.

“Hello, this is Olivia Benson.”

“Ms. Benson, we were just about to call you. Trisha isn't going to be able to make it tonight because she got two flat tires on the bridge and was having trouble with her phone. She was just able to get in contact with us and let us know what was happening. We are able to dispatch Noelle within the next forty five minutes if…”

“I want to cancel my call.” Liv said.

“We are so sorry for the inconvenience, ma'am. Unforeseeable issues made reaching out to you impossible and we thought the sitter was still in route from Brooklyn.”

“I accept your apology. My son is feeling unwell so the service is no longer needed.”

“We guarantee that your next sitter will be free for up to four hours. You are a valuable client, Ms. Benson and we appreciate your patronage.”

“I'd like that in writing please.” Liv said.

“Oh absolutely. A notification will be emailed to you within 24 hours. And again, we are so sorry.”

“Thank you. Goodnight.”

Liv hung up and walked back out into the living room. She was frustrated and wasn’t sure if it showed on her face or not. Ed was still walking around with Noah and now he was singing softly to him. Liv thought it might be Tom Petty.

“There's a problem.” She said.

“Hmm?” Ed looked up at her just as Noah let out a ferocious burp. “Aha, there it is. That’s what we’ve been waiting for. Excellent job, Noah. He's been letting out little ones since…oh shit.”

“Ed!”

Liv rushed over to grab Noah as they baby threw up all over Ed’s grey dress shirt. Noah was crying again, this time a little devastated over what happened. He'd gotten some of the vomit on his pajamas as well but not half as much as ended up on Ed. It looked like something from the outtakes of _The Exorcist_.

“What did he eat that was green? Oh good God.”

“I am so sorry. I…we need to clean this up. Take the shirt off.”

Ed pulled the shirt out of his slacks and started to unbutton it. He was trying not to get vomit on his hands, which was impossible given the volume. Liv took Noah and put him in the playpen. He didn’t cry when she laid him down, and he immediately took his bottle filled with Pedialyte. He’d been rejecting that bottle for forty minutes but he just took it without a problem this time.

“This is pretty voluminous.” Ed said, handing off the shirt as best he could. “He must have been holding back for a while. I'm glad this didn’t get all over your dress. Holy hell.”

“I am so, so sorry. This isn't dry clean only is it?”

“No, it can be washed.”

“Good. I'm going to have to rinse it off first. Wow, whatever it is this really stinks.”

“It’s vomit, Olivia.” Ed said.

“I know that part. I just meant…I have no idea what Noah was eating. The daycare staff knows not to let him have junk food except for a few Gummie Savers.”

“He could've gotten it from another kid. They do things like that, exchange snacks.”

“He can't talk Ed, he's not even two years old yet.”

“One doesn’t need to talk for the school snack exchange. They're similar to drug deals in that way.”

“Oh, OK.” Liv laughed some as she ran his shirt under the cold water. She rinsed it good, wrung it out, and then pretreated the large stain with a Tide stick. After putting it in the short wash cycle, she came back in and looked on Noah. His eyes were closed but she knew he wasn’t asleep. He was more relaxed though and still drinking from the bottle. He needed to get his fluids up, especially if he had a stomach bug. “Tonight wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“What? An adventure?”

“I think you know what I mean. We had dinner plans. And I know I'd been a little incognito the past few weeks.”

“Well you were studying, so I figured…”

“I wasn’t studying Ed.” Liv shook her head. “I mean I was studying, but it’s a little more complicated than that.”

“We can order a pizza.” He said. “And I don’t even have to be embarrassed about getting stains on my shirt.”

“OK.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I'm starving.”

“I'm a bit hungry myself. Can I use your bathroom?”

“Of course, it’s right down the hall. I’ll order the pizza.”

“Anything but anchovies or pineapples.” Ed said.

“You got it.” Liv gave him the OK sign.

Ed walked down the hall. Olivia checked on Noah one more time and even though he was holding onto the bottle for dear life, he was definitely on his way to sleep. She would leave him in the playpen for a little while; didn’t want him to wake up and be in a worse mood. Noah would relax and Liv would relax with Ed. It wasn’t exactly a perfect second date but since she wasn’t calling it that then this was fine. They would spend some time together; have pizza and maybe watch a movie. The night started a bit strangely but that seemed to be the saga of this Ed and Olivia thing.

***


End file.
